Pacifica Christian boys’ basketball denied in overtime by Fairmont Prep in CIF title game
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ONTARIO — The Wedge, Pacifica Christian Orange County’s student cheering section, showed up in big numbers for Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Division 2AA boys’ basketball title game.
The fact that dozens of students made the trip from the Newport Beach area to the Inland Empire did not surprise Tritons head coach Jeff Berokoff.
“We’re small, 350 kids, but everybody shows up,” Berokoff said. “We show up for each other no matter what sport, and I think that’s one thing that’s really special about our school and about our community … It’s really great to see them in orange.”
Despite The Wedge’s rolling support, it was league rival Fairmont Prep that rode the wave of momentum late in the second half and overtime of the CIF championship game at Toyota Arena.
The result was a 64-60 Fairmont Prep victory that denied the Tritons their first CIF championship in program history in their third title game appearance.
Six-foot-10 junior David Abisogun had 20 points and 15 rebounds before fouling out for the Huskies, who won their second CIF crown. Both came at the expense of Pacifica Christian, as Fairmont Prep also won the 2019 Division 4AA title against its rival.
The teams split their two San Joaquin League games this season and shared the league title.
“It’s a great rivalry,” Fairmont Prep coach Joedy Gardner said. “Our guys were resilient. For David, our best player, to go down and for our guys to step up, I’m really proud of them. They practiced hard all week. They were well-prepared — maybe over-prepared — but they just fought.”
Pacifica Christian senior guard EJ Spillman had a game-high 29 points.
Pacifica Christian (23-8) took a 10-point lead midway through the third quarter, but Fairmont Prep (22-9) rallied within two points headed into the fourth. Included in the Huskies’ rally was a left-handed dunk by Abisogun, one of three dunks for him in the game.
“That was a really big dunk,” said Fairmont Prep senior guard Oliver Jones, who had 13 points and made all eight of his free throws, including some big ones down the stretch. “That felt like it got everyone hyped up, got everyone confident. I just thought that was an important play.”
Abisogun fouled out with his team up by a basket with 2:43 left in the fourth quarter. The Huskies were still up three points when Pacifica Christian senior co-captain Hudson Reynolds was fouled shooting a three-pointer with 1:10 remaining. Reynolds made all three free throws to tie the score at 51-51.
A basket by Spillman gave the Tritons a 53-51 lead with 25 seconds left, but Jones made a pair of free throws with six seconds left to send the game to overtime.
Fairmont Prep never trailed in the extra session. With the Huskies up 62-58, Pacifica Christian missed a pair of three-pointers in the closing seconds before Marcus Fernandez corralled the rebound and made two shots from the line.
Spillman earned a pair of free throws with 0.5 seconds left, but they ended up irrelevant. Knowing that, he pounded the ground on the baseline three times before getting up to take the shots.
“They played their hearts out, and I’m so proud of them,” said Berokoff, whose team survived a double-overtime affair at Corona Centennial in the CIF semifinals. “I’m really proud to be their coach. We’re a real tight group. I don’t like sitting here being on the losing end, but I’d go to battle with these guys against anybody, any day of the week, win or lose. I’m really proud of their effort.”
Michael Noel had 10 points, Reynolds had eight and Logan Stewart scored seven for the Tritons.
Fairmont Prep’s Kamerin Lewis, a senior working back from an Achilles surgery four months ago, did his best to stay in front of Spillman on defense and scored all six of his points after halftime.
Both teams will compete in the CIF State Southern California Regional playoffs, for which pairings will be released Sunday.
Two years ago, Pacifica Christian lost in the CIF Southern Section semifinals but ended up making a run all the way to the Division II state championship game.
“Nobody expected us to be here,” said Spillman, a key player on that team as a sophomore. “This whole year, we’ve had to respond. We know how to bounce back. [This game] is going to sting for the next two days, but a lot of teams don’t get to practice Monday. We have another game, and we take that with gratitude. We’re going to play tough and give it our all, keep it one game at a time.”
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CIF Southern Section Division 2AA playoffs
Championship game
Fairmont Prep 64, Pacifica Christian Orange County 60 (OT)
Pacifica Christian 12 - 21 - 7 - 13 - 7 — 60
Fairmont Prep 10 - 14 - 14 - 15 - 11 — 64
PC — Spillman 29, Noel 10, Reynolds 8, Stewart 7, Connell 3, Rigdon 3.
3-pt. goals — Spillman 2, Noel 1, Reynolds 1, Connell 1, Rigdon 1.
Fouled out — Stewart, Reynolds.
Technicals — None.
FP — Abisogun 20, Jones 13, Fernandez 12, Lewis 6, Davis 6, Jack 5, Snyder 2.
3-pt. goals — Davis 2, Jones 1.
Fouled out — Abisogun, Lewis, Guo.
Technicals — None.
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